


Let the cat out of the bag

by Narsha



Series: Cat girl cycle [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Cats, Female Protagonist, Female Uchiha Sasuke, Male-Female Friendship, POV Female Character, POV Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, Uchiha Sasuke-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 04:14:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30066507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narsha/pseuds/Narsha
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke is a strange little girl who was raised by cats in a ghost neighborhood. Everyday after the Academy, she maintains the old houses, so she won't dream. Everything is well. Everything is the same. Until one day she finds clues that don't add up and slip under her skin. Notes about her mother being unhappy, and angry clan members bullied by Konoha ninjas. But when she starts asking about the past, masked strangers suddenly take everything away. There is something fishy going on, and she is determined to find out.
Relationships: Sai & Uchiha Sasuke, Sai & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Cat girl cycle [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2212020
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Let the cat out of the bag

Uchiha Sasuke is a quiet girl.

She used to be this shy and bubbly kid, always running around after cats and waiting for her big brother to show her new ninja tricks.

Now she’s all alone in a neighborhood full of cats.

She does not remember much of the months she spent in the hospital. It’s just that one day, the doctor asked if she wanted to go back to school. It’s not that she missed school much. Or that she missed anything much, really. She just felt empty. So, she just said yes to the doctors, so they went away.

There was no one to take her to school when she got out the hospital. Her mother used to take her. And sometimes her brother. But most of the time, since she was a big girl learning to be a scary ninja, she went by herself. There was the Tabby cat from the compound who followed her there. When Nii-chan… that man was too busy, Tabby was always there.  
And he was there when she got out of the hospital.  
He did not let her stray from the path.

Iruka-Sensei made a funny face when she told him the cat got her to school.  
Some other kids laughed.  
Most of them whispered behind her back. She tried not to hear.

From the compound to the Academy, and the Academy to the compound, there are always cats. At first she thought it was very strange. But it faded in the background, like everything else.

Sasuke lives in a neighborhood full of cats and old memories. It’s good, though. Cats chase the ghosts away, and the memories with it. Leaving only Sasuke.

Her life is very simple. She wakes up in the morning with a futon full of purring cats.  
Mostly because one decided to sat on her face or play with her toes. At 5 in the morning.  
She stretches with them as they rub their cold noses against her naked legs.  
Then she feeds them one by one, chasing them so they don’t steal from one another. It gets incredibly difficult because some of them are ninja cats. They are very gifted to look like regular cats and trick her into exercising.  
For example, she had to buy cat food and litter in bulk, it was less expensive. But lifting the heaving bags every morning forced her to develop muscles. As wrestling with them taught her to endure.  
After feeding the cats, she washes one of her many similar outfits. She takes good care of it. They used to end up full of dirt and cat hair, and the girls in the special class were always making fun of her. So, Sasuke learned how to be less messy, and coat her clothes with a thin layer of chakra, to gather the impurities and throw them away.  
Her beige skirt and navy shirts looks much better now she does it.

At night, she dreams she’s chasing these cats over and over in the empty streets. She stops noticing how the sky bleeds too red, and the shadows burn dark.

Cleaning her clothes isn’t the only thing the cat tricked her into doing. They got her to clean and repair around the compound. She should be training because that man told her to hatehimandhatehimandhatehim… But the cats were having none of that. Of course, they let her practice her taijutsu and her ninjustu by herself. But only after she chased them and cleaned up their mess. And in the entire compound, there was a lot to do.

The compound housed about 40 members when she was little. Now there was only her and a dozen cats. That made about 17 houses and shops. One every two month and a half on average. About 20 evening and 10 full days to chase cats around, clean after them, and going above and beyond.  
Body traced on chalked were easy to erase. Dried blood was harder.

The first time she bought a set of tools, planks, nails and tiles for the roof, the vendor asked if her dad sent her. He made her face when she said it was the cats.

It was the cats, always the cats.

The time she almost broke a leg, she was visited by the Hokage. He suggested she got a carpenter, a plumber and an electrician to do the work. When the men came, civilians, she perched herself on the roof. Eyes strained and itching, she observed them in silence, just like the surrounding cats.

People call her the Creepy Cat Girl. She doesn’t even care.

She never feels alone when she’s with the cats. It’s a good thing. She’s not at ease when they are not there. So, when she sees Kiba bringing a pup to class, she asks the cats if it would be all right to bring a kitten.  
It’s completely all right for them. They take turns. Apparently, she’s a furnace.

Day in, day out, she keeps the compound alive, with cats instead of Uchiha filling it.  
It’s going well.

42 months. 17 houses and shops (and the temple). She just followed the cats.

Everything is well. That’s what she tells her therapist every week. She’s not happy. She’s not angry. Her grades remain the best of the class.  
Yes, she gets nervous whenever the cats are away. Always checking for threats. Avoiding contacts from humans who are always pitying her.  
She’s working around the compound, and it stays alive. Thanks to her.

Everything is well. And everything remains the same.

Until the day the cats decide to mess around her old house.

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the (many) stories bothering me lately. I think it might grow into something bigger, but for now it's just something during Sasuke's academy days.
> 
> And for those waiting for another chapter of Underneath our Masked faces... Well, it's on its way, but I am running into troubles trying to write Obito's character right.


End file.
